Public Health Alerts

Delay in Processing Vaccine Orders due to a Provincial System Disruption

To: Ottawa Physicians and Nurse Practitioners
Date: September 10, 2024
From:  Dr. Trevor Arnason, Deputy Medical Officer of Health
Subject: Delay in Processing Vaccine Orders due to a Provincial System Disruption

Dear Colleagues, 

Today, Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has been notified of an unexpected province-wide service interruption affecting the system to review vaccine inventory and process vaccine orders. While the Province is working to restore this system as soon as possible, it has caused local...

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Case of human rabies in Ontario

To: Ottawa Physicians and Nurse Practitioners
Date: September 6, 2024
From: Dr. Monir Taha, Associate Medical Officer of Health
Subject: Case of human rabies in Ontario

Dear Colleagues, 

Please see the letter from the Chief Medical Officer of Health regarding a case of human rabies in Ontario. 

A recent Public Health Alert gives details on reporting animal bites and animal contacts in Ottawa: Duty to report animal bites and animal contacts. This Public Health Alert includes a provincial algorithm for bat...

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Eastern equine encephalitis and West Nile virus update, Ottawa

To: Ottawa Physicians and Nurse Practitioners
Date: September 5, 2024
From: Dr. Monir Taha, Associate Medical Officer of Health, Ottawa Public Health
Subject: Eastern equine encephalitis and West Nile virus update, Ottawa

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has received notification from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness of a second case of eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) in a horse in Ottawa. Additionally, a fatal human EEE case in Ottawa has been reported to OPH; however, final...

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Temporary pause on COVID-19 vaccine availability in Ontario

To: Ottawa Physicians and Nurse Practitioners
Date: August 29, 2024
From: Dr. Trevor Arnason, Deputy Medical Officer of Health
Subject: Temporary pause on COVID-19 vaccine availability in Ontario

Dear Colleagues,

The Province has alerted Ottawa Public Health (OPH), that due to a Health Canada regulatory withdrawal process, XBB COVID-19 vaccines will not be available in Ontario between the market withdrawal on September 1, 2024, until receipt of the new formulation. 

This means that there will be no access...

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Eastern equine encephalitis virus in Ottawa horse

To: Ottawa Physicians and Nurse Practitioners
Date: August 21, 2024
From: Dr. Monir Taha, Associate Medical Officer of Health, Ottawa Public Health
Subject: Eastern equine encephalitis virus in Ottawa horse

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has received veterinarian notification of an eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) positive horse in Ottawa. No human cases of EEE have been reported. This public health alert is to remind of the risk of EEE to humans, which may remain elevated into the middle of...

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